Strike A Match ✓

ONE

The peaceful sound of white doves whistling their favourite happy tune as they fly over Taehyung's head caused the utter edge of his lips to tug up in a soft smile.

He patiently waits, nervously playing with the cloud beneath his feet in a desperate yet futile attempt to calm himself down.

"I can see why you ranked up," An awaited voice causes his head to snap up.

"Always on time. I said 6 AM, not 5:30." Namjoon chuckles, watching as the adorable boy shrugs.

"I can't help but always do my best. Also, I wanted to be the first one here. I had to make a good first impression, wouldn't want this to be the first and immediate last time you're asking for my assistance."  The younger mumbles shyly, watching as rays of bright sunlight reach past him and hit the other man in his face.

"Don't worry too much about that, Taehyung. God knows what things you must do in order for all of us to be disappointed in you or lose all respect for you. You're doing great." The male voices, causing the younger to feel a little better and assured.

"Thank you, Namjoon-hyung. So... Hell. What is it that we're going to be doing, exactly?" He can't help but ask, uncertainty coating his words.

"Follow me, I'll explain on the way." The elder retorts, nudging his head to the side.

Taehyung frowns, realising they are walking away from the gate instead of exiting through it. However he keeps his lips sealed with the knowledge in mind that the highest ranked angel before him knows what he's doing.

"You see, Taehyung, when I asked you to wait at the gate yesterday, I already assumed you would be waiting over there. I don't blame you," Namjoon starts, leading the boy farther and farther away from most of the angel civilisation.

"I suppose we could've used the main gate indeed, however the way to Hell would've taken us days. Luckily, the big man up there thought of a slightly quicker route." He points up with a wink shot at the younger's face, chuckling at his surprise.

It doesn't take much longer before Taehyung gasps at the sight of a much smaller golden gate ─only much the size of a singular door really─ with one, non-transparant cloud forming a curved, round wall around it.

He steps closer, curious orbs peeking through the gaps and he averts his gaze downwards.

The most astonishing part of it was the faint red colouring mixing with the white and pinkish cloud, which seemingly only gets darker and darker the deeper the tunnel goes until it overpowers the two others.

"Luckily for us, this tunnel is a shortcut. When we get down there we have the obligation to request─ Ah, you know what? You'll see. It'll make sense, don't worry about it." Namjoon chuckles aloud, opening the gate and stepping in first.

He winks at the younger boy and with that his wings retract in his back, his halo vanishes from his head and his white eyes turn dark brown. Before Taehyung got the chance to blink, the man sped downwards.

Exhaling rather shakily, the white haired boy steps in next, holding onto the golden rails of the gate as he closes it behind himself.

Within the snap of his fingers his halo disappears from his head and his eyes turn a rich caramel brown, however he decides to keep his wings in place. He just hopes it isn't necessary to get rid of them. The thought of being able to get away within the blink of an eye just seems appealing to him right now.

He glances downwards once more to prepare himself, only realising his hands have already let go of the gate when it's too late.

He crashes down at an immense speed, a loud yelp slipping past his lips. Shutting his eyes tight, he waits for something to happen.

However the only thing he notices is that the breeze that rushes past him that was rather fresh and cold earlier, now only seems to get warmer and warmer.

"Ah, there you are! I was already wondering what was taking so long." The sound of Namjoon snaps him out of his thoughts before he got to ponder on them any longer.

His eyes snap open, orbs gawking around.

For now there isn't much to see apart from darkness, except for the crimson hue in the distance.

Looking back to see where he came from, he gapes at the sight of the exact same tunnel but this time the curved, round wall is bloody red and the opened gate is black.

He quickly closes it, wanting to protect his home.

Namjoon laughs seeing it, patting his shoulder.

"Come on buddy, we still have some distance to go yet."

Taehyung is too thunderstruck to be able to form actual sentences. He could only nod, trailing after the other angel at complete loss of words.

"Don't you want to hide your wings?" The elder asks, quirking up an eyebrow.

The white haired shakes his head from the left to the right quickly, his locks bouncing around and tangling messily together.

"Hey.." The elder stops in his tracks, his eyebrows contorting. He turns to look at the younger fully, his hands resting on his shoulders as he finds his gaze.

"Take a deep breath in, Taehyungie. It's okay. Nothing will happen. Don't be scared, alright?"

The gentle words cause the boy to nod in agreement, his chest rising up and down as he inhales deeply and exhales through his nose.

"Okay.." He whispers reluctantly.

He nervously fiddles and plays with his right wing once he slightly pulls it over his right side, as if it is his shield. With teeth nervously nibbling on his bottom lip and eyes big and innocent, he helplessly follows after the experienced angel.